The ManWhoSurvived
by Otspock
Summary: 2 years after graduation, Harry returns to Hogwarts to teach DADA with his daughter and Snape gets the surprise of his life.
1. Dinner with the Professors

**It's that time of the year again and Hogwarts wants you!**

_Caricature of Dumbledore pointing his finger at targeted audience with twinkling eyes_

**If you agree to take on the DADA position, you will get a signing bonus of 10,000 gallions, with a yearly wage of 20,000 gallions and an extra 10,000 for each year you complete.**

**So come on down! Hogwarts' door is always open!**

It has been decided. Harry Potter is returning to Hogwarts. It has been years after his defeat of Voldemort, two and a half years after he had graduated.

After having told the wizarding world to go to hell, Mr. Potter had disappeared, and no one had heard from him since. Then, out of the blue, an answer had been sent by a snowy white owl in reply to an advertisement in the Quibbler. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was needed at Hogwarts.

The day had been horrible, not only the weather, but the traveling. Mr. Harry James Potter was drenched as he lugged his suitcases (three in all) up the great stone steps of the castle. Of course, the heavy weight on his back did not help and his muscles (not to mention his back) screamed at him to take a break, but he was almost there and he knew that the water repelling charm would soon wear off.

As he approached the strongly fortified doors of Hogwarts, they opened in an act of welcome and Harry Potter knew that he had finally come home.

In the Entrance Hall, Harry could hear loud voices coming from the Great Hall. Setting his suitcases down, he went and entered the room where he used to spend his meal times.

All the voices quieted and the teachers, who had already arrived, turned to see who had arrived.

"Harry?" The inquiry came from the Head of the table, Headmaster Dumbledore. All the teachers looked dumbfounded. Harry hadn't realized that his appearance had changed so much.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. Am I late?"

"Not at all, my boy, the food just arrived. Please, have a seat beside Severus."

Harry turned to walk down the length of the table where the potions master sat, when a small cry rent through the air.

To everyone's amazement, Harry quickly rushed to his seat and placed a drying spell on himself. Then, still standing, he took off the backpack, placed it onto the chair and pulled a baby girl out of it. Gasps went unheard as the professors realized that it had not been a backpack, but a sort of carrier. The baby had been bundled so tightly and had remained so quiet, that they had not even realized it had been there. Harry started to walk along the table, rocking her, eventually calming her down.

"I would like to introduce you to Patricia, my daughter."

The only one who wasn't surprised to see Potter's offspring was Professor Snape. He had known that with all the temptation of willing, adoring fans, Harry hadn't a chance of not taking advantage of the opportunities they presented. So it was Snape that shook his head at the naivety of his Headmaster when the old man posed his next question,

"You are married, Harry?"

"Yes, Headmaster." Snape was shocked. "But I am in the middle of a divorce." I take that back. It was just the thing Snape had expected of him.

"What is a divorce?" The quiet question made the rounds as Harry finally took his seat beside Snape, his daughter quietly hiccupping on his shoulder. Leaning over, Harry ignored the feast before him and started digging around in a pouch of the backpack. The professors all stayed silent, as Harry pulled out a bottle and began feeding Tricia.

"Potter? What are you doing to the child?" Snape asked indignantly.

"Why, Professor. I am feeding my daughter a bottle seeing as I am not able to produce the milk needed myself." Harry replied. He suspected that if Snape hadn't had such tight control of his actions, his face would've flushed. "So," he began brightly "What is the latest news?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have just brought twins to the world." Professor McGonagall answered immediately.

"More?" Harry asked surprised. "What does that make now, 9?"

"No, Harry, I mean Hermione and Ron."

"They're married! Well, it makes a good combination, brainy pranksters."

"I will no longer be teaching in this institution." Snape muttered darkly. Harry laughed and turned to his former professor.

"Would you hold Tricia, Severus? I see that you are through eating, as is my daughter. I, however, am famished."

Snape only stared at him while the baby was gently placed into his arms which automatically tightened around her. Drool dribbled down the girl's chin, pooling among the fabric of Snape's robes. "See?" Harry grinned. "She likes you already." Ignoring the professor's glare, he turned and began to pile food high on his plate.

Severus stared in horror at the child in his arms. The last thing he wanted to do was hold Potter's brat. As if agreeing with his sentiments, the girl screwed up her face and began to cry.

"I'd better warn you." Her father said from beside them, "Tricia is an Empath." Severus was stunned. Only a Potter could show such talents at an early age.

"Oh, don't tease poor Severus." The new voice belonged to Minerva McGonagall, who, it appeared, had been following their conversation. "All babies are Empaths my dear colleague, it is their natural instincts." The whole time Harry had been shoveling food into his mouth seemingly without pause. Now he swallowed and said.

"Actually, my daughter is an Empath. She must get it from her mother's side of the family, though." Stunned silence met this as Harry went back to eating, now on his third plate of food.

The little girl, Tricia, giggled from where she sat in Snape's lap, her eyes twinkling as though she understood everything that was being said.

"So," Dumbledore questioned. "Why haven't you brought your wife with you? Who is the lucky girl?"

"Well, professor . . ."

"Call me Albus."

"As I mentioned earlier, I am in the middle of a divorce and so, of course, have not brought her with me."

"What is a divorce?" Flitwick asked.

"It is a muggle process of ending a marriage."

"Is your wife a muggle?"

"More a squib who just doesn't know it. She comes from a long line of squibs who have long since forgotten the existence of the wizarding world."

Snape sneered. At least she wasn't a muggle or muggle-born. Being a squib was just as bad in his eyes though. Suddenly he felt a soft hand hit him in the nose. Looking down, he saw Tricia giggle and reach out her chubby fist to him again.

"Hey!" He said. "No hitting my nose." Harry was now finished and took his little girl into his arms.

"Now Tricia, what have I said about hitting people?" The baby just giggled while reaching out to do the same by her daddy.

"I am sorry Severus. Tricia has a fascination with hooked noses." Harry apologized.

Severus remained silent and glared at him.

"Where is your wife now?" McGonagall asked.

"Hopefully with her parents." Was Harry's off-hand reply.

"Wouldn't she want to see her child?" Flitwick asked.

"Why should she? Tricia isn't hers." Snape's thoughts were confirmed. Slowly, a smirk made its way across his face. Seeing the confused looks on their faces Harry hurried to explain. "Sarah is my second wife. Amerella, Tricia's mother, died a week after giving birth."

A silence of sorrow fell upon the room. Looking closely, Severus could've sworn there was a suspicious shine to the young man's eyes, but wasn't quite sure a moment later when Harry laughed and said: "My time of grief has passed. After all, it has been a year."

I would really like to thank my new beta Sanguis Magia for her insightful and much appreciated help!


	2. Memories

Later that evening, Harry laid Tricia in the crib which had been in the room Dumbledore had shown him deep in the reaches of the Teacher's Wing, as it was so traditionally called. He smiled as his sleeping daughter sighed softly and turned onto her back. The smile turned quickly to a look of sorrow. Amarella's death had hit him hard. The only reason he had not fallen into depression was the knowledge that Tricia needed him and that there was no one else to care for her. Which was the reason that he had jumped into marriage a half a year later. Sarah was a kind woman and everything a man would normally want, except for one fatal flaw. She lacked the ability to make him smile in the morning so that he was still smiling in the evening after work. This was something only Amarella had been capable of.

Sarah, it had turned out, was clingy, desperate for a man who would be there at all times, doing everything that she needed. Which of course, eventually led Harry to look into other alternative ways to raise his daughter. She did not need a mother who needed to be looked after herself.

One morning, Harry and Tricia had taken a trip to Diagon Alley where Harry had found the answer to his problem: A free copy of the quibbler shoved into his hands and a fitting session for Tricia at Madame Malkins.

The next day, Harry filed for a divorce, packed and came to Hogwarts.

Harry found it a strange sensation to be sitting at the teacher's table staring down at the students coming into the great Hall.

"I can't believe I was once that short." Harry murmured.

"I believe you were a midget compared to this year's students." The emotionless voice of Professor Snape startled him out of his reverie.

"Good thing I had a growth spurt then, huh?"

"That, Mr. Potter, is known as a growth potion whose ingredients you stole from my classrooms."

"I did not! I'll have you know that I had bought them all in Hogsmeade!" Harry said indignantly.

"So, finally Mr. Potter admits to using potions as a means to an end. Who brewed it, Granger?"

"No." Harry replied. "Not that you would care, but I got an outstanding on my NEWTs in that subject."

"Yes, I do find it very difficult to believe. Where is your daughter this evening?"

"I did not think that Tricia would enjoy the noise of the sorting hat's calls and the consequential cheers. I left her with Dobby until after dinner." Harry answered, looking unconcerned as Darrell Atkinson was the first to put on the talking hat.

"That maniacal house elf! Potter, you daughter would be safer with the youngest male Weasley!"

"Oh, thank you Severus, you just reminded me! I had totally forgotten to call Molly and invite her and the family to dinner; I haven't done that since Tricia was born." With this, Harry became quiet. Severus didn't say anything either, as Hufflepuff gained its first new housemate.

Soon, the sorting was over and Albus Dumbledore stood to give his beginning of the year speech. "Good evening children and welcome to another year of learning at Hogwarts. Besides the usual warnings such as Mr. Filch's Forbidden Items list and restricted access to the Forbidden Forest, we have a new member of Staff, which comes to no surprise to anyone. Harry Potter has come to teach DADA and he hopes to break the curse over the position. With him is his baby daughter and so pranks on her will be severely punished. However, feel free to prank Mr. Potter anytime she is not around. And with that, we will now eat!"

With a clap of his hands, the tables were laden with food and everyone began to eat.

"So, Harry." Madame Hooch said from three seats down. "I am curious as to what you did for work. Were you in the muggle world as the newspapers said?"

"Well, you are going to laugh, but I worked primarily as a Wal-Mart greeter."

"What is that?" Dumbledore asked.

"Wal-Mart is a huge store which sells all manner of goods. They hire people to stand at the doors, hand out shopping carts, give helpful directions and overall just be nice and friendly."

"What kind of work is that?" Severus Snape sneered.

"Just the laid back kind of thing to do after having disposed of a Dark Lord. See, I really don't even need to work, but it gives me a break from being a 24 hr dad and it is a distraction most of all."

Albus Dumbledore understood what Harry was saying. After all, he, too, had once slain the evil Grindlewald. "Well, you know that being a teacher is going to be much more difficult than smiling, Harry." He said kindly.

"Of course, Professor. But I am greatly looking forward to a challenge in my life."


	3. A long session of planning

It was the next day that Harry was anxiously awaiting his first class. They were 7th years, and he knew that their education up until their fourth year had been abysmal, after all, he had had the same teachers, but he did not know who they had had the last three years. Because of this, he had "borrowed" Durmstrang's graduation tests, which he found to be challenging and a good ground on which to send young adults into the world. This he intended to give them to see how much work he had before him. In fact, he intended to use Durmstrangs exams in order to judge all years. Of course, he had tweaked them a bit with questions on every subject such as: In your opinion, how greatly or poorly do you excel in this subject: Excellent, good, average, poor or not at all.

As his first students arrived (all houses since it was a NEWTS class) he nodded to each greeting and exchanged some of his own. He knew about half of them, but that was only because he had come into direct contact with them in some form or another. After all, he had been very busy that year preparing for the final battle against Voldemort.

Finally, the students were seated and were looking at him expectantly. "Ok, I know you are going to groan, but before I complete my plans for this year's curriculum, I need to know where you stand in your broad knowledge of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, or lack thereof. Accordingly, I have an exam I would like for you all to take. There will be no grade given for it, for, while I hope that you all will do well, I highly doubt it unless Professor Dumbledore managed to get a decent teacher. So, thus having given my small speech, here is the test." With a snap of Harry's fingers, the tests appeared before each student. Looking at the thick stack of papers before them, they groaned and got to work.

With his daughter in his arms, a tired Harry Potter sat down on a plush chair in the teacher's Lounge with a long, heart-filled sigh. Not paying attention to the others, he bounced her a little and conjured a large stack of papers which had turned out to be all the tests which had accumulated through the last 3 days. Kissing his daughter on the head, he took up a red muggle ink pen and began to read the first test of a 7th year by the name of Kayleen Applemeier. By the time he was finished, he didn't know if he was cut out for the job or not. Tricia had been getting fussy while Harry's frustration had mounted. Realizing this, Harry began softly singing as he turned to the next paper.

Two hours later, he had finished marking all the papers and none of them had come anywhere close to being at the standard they should have been. The only classes that Harry did not have to worry about were the first years.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" Harry looked up and realized that all the other teachers were in the room and were looking at him inquisitively. It was McGonagal who had spoken their thoughts.

"Who was teaching in the last 3 years? None of the students would ever be able to meet the standards of DADA curriculum, not to mention even trying to exceed it."

Here, Severus Snape sneered and said: "Albus found them were he found all the others, at the bottom of the barrel."

"I am going to have to do accelerated courses with evening classes and extra homework just to try to bring them up to par with the rest of the world. With the 7th years I may not even succeed."

"Oh, Harry. I am sure you will manage. Please, if you need help just ask any of us and we will gladly give it." Filius Flitwick said.

"Oh yes." Pomona Sprout agreed. "It is nice to finally have someone who is concerned with their students' education rather than getting in to Dumbledore's good graces."

Harry managed a small smile for his colleagues. He knew that neither the students, nor himself, were going to enjoy DADA in the upcoming year.

Looking at the scores on top of the papers, he began sorting the papers into 7 groups, dividing the students into what year they were actually capable of completing based on knowledge, skill would come in the extra lessons.

After many sleepless nights of planning and restless days of lessons and taking care of Tricia, Harry finally had it figured out. During the scheduled lessons, he would be teaching according to the Durmstrang's standards. During the night, he had lessons planned from 6:30-8:00, starting right after dinner. Each skill level group would meet with him once a week and each student would continue these extra lessons until he felt that they were at the level they needed to be. Now it was time to tell everyone else.

Everyone was well aware of his exhaustion as he came to the Great Hall that night. It was so acute, that Severus Snape voluntarily took Tricia into his arms, much to the delight of Harry's daughter.

Harry was silent throughout dinner until just before Dumbledore was going to stand up to dismiss the students. "Headmaster, I would like to make an announcement if I may."

"Of course, my boy." The Headmaster replied and Harry stood up and made his way to the front of the hall. Clearing his throat, he quickly caught the attention of the student body.

"It has come to my attention, that you are all abysmally uninformed regarding the dark arts and would not stand a chance if anything of that nature decided to attack you. In light of this, I will be giving extracurricular DADA classes every night and the first half of Saturdays. They are not mandatory, however, if you wish to pass my exams, I would suggest you come to them.

"There will be extra classes for all years except the first as they are starting with clean slates and are not behind. On Mondays, the extra classes for the 2nd years will begin at 6:30 and end at 8pm. Tuesdays are for the 3rd years, Wednesdays for the 4th, Thursdays for the 5th and the 6th years on Friday. On Saturdays, the morning will be for the 7th years starting from 8 until noon when we would normally have lunch.

"These classes will be taken in addition to the ones during the week days. They will be stopped if I feel you have been caught up to where you are supposed to be. Homework assigned in these extra classes will be regarded as extra credit."

There was silence throughout the hall as Harry returned to his seat and took Tricia in his arms. Dumbledore waited until they were settle to address the student body.

"These extra defense classes are supported by the whole staff at Hogwarts. They are not, however, and excuse for not turning in an assignment for another class as you are given at least two days to complete them. Now, it is getting late and so off to bed with you all. Tomorrow will be a busy day.


End file.
